The present invention relates to a device for use with a conventional garage door opener to cause the garage door automatically to move to a closed position after being moved to the open position.
Conventional motorized garage door openers often comprise a casing at a central location within the garage approximately seven feet above the garage floor and high enough that a person will not bump his/her head while moving within the garage. A tubular track extends from the casing horizontally to an anchorage point on the garage wall above the garage door opening. A carriage is slidably or rollably positioned on the track for movement therealong. The carriage has a pivotable link-type connection to the inner face of the garage door such that movement of the carriage along the track causes the door to move between a generally horizontal overhead open position within the garage and a vertical closed position closing the garage door opening. Carriage motion can be provided by a chain trained about a sprocket rotatably mounted above the garage door opener casing. An electric motor in the casing drives the sprocket, thus to open or close the door.
The motor can be triggered into operation by a manual switch located in the garage or by a small radio-sending unit in the automotive vehicle. A manual switch on the sending unit actuates a battery-operated radio, thus to generate a momentary signal which is received by a receiving unit in the garage door opener casing. Electrical output from the receiving unit actuates the motor.
A problem with conventional garage door openers is that the driver of a vehicle occasionally will forget to operate the radio-sending unit to close the garage door after he/she has driven the vehicle out of the garage. An open garage door represents potential theft and weather problems.
The present invention relates to a device attachable to a conventional garage door opener for automatically closing the door after the person has driven the vehicle out of the garage. The device includes a time delay mechanism which delays the closing operation for a predetermined period after the door has been opened so that the driver has time to get into the car and drive out of the garage before the door starts to close. The device is designed not to interfere with operation of the garage door opener by the driver, as by manual operation of the radio-sending unit after the car is out of the garage.